


Half and Half

by Lirianis



Category: The Simpsons
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 13:30:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20836286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lirianis/pseuds/Lirianis
Summary: Carl discovers Mount Carlmore.





	Half and Half

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Mitad y mitad](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20835656) by [Lirianis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lirianis/pseuds/Lirianis). 

> Originally published in 2012 (in Spanish) in Espanonimeme's fic meme for the prompt: "Carl discovers Mount Carlmore. Can be slash, pre-slash o pure friendship."
> 
> Published in AO3 and translated in 2019 with minimal corrections.

Lenny knows that what he and Carl have is not normal. Half of Springfield thinks that they are seriously codependent friends, and the other half believes that they are lovers who haven't come out of the closet yet. Lenny isn't quite sure of who's right, and the truth is that most of the time he doesn't even care.

Carl, however, is always worrying about what people will say, complaining about Lenny's 'gayest' comments and actions. Still, sometimes it's Carl the one who forgets they're in public and says or does something that creates rumors. Lenny hates when that happens, because every time Carl will insist in forcing some distance between them, abandoning Lenny until he feels in control of the situation once more.

Lenny bears with it as best as he can waiting for Carl's return, but his biggest fear is that one day Carl will stay away and abandon Lenny forever. The time without Carl is horrible for him. Lenny feels alone, as if he was only one half of something which becomes useless when it isn't whole.

Then, one morning when he exits the house to go to work, Carl will be there waiting for him leaning on his car as if nothing had happened. Those mornings Lenny feels the need to do something, the need to grab him and kiss him, to shake him and hit him until he understands the pain he has caused, to kneel before him and beg him to never leave again.

Lenny gets in the car and protests by rote the radio channel Carl has picked.

That night Homer drags them to the bowling alley and then to Moe's tabern, and even though Lenny would have rather stayed home with Carl watching TV, he knows that at this point a few beers can only help. At least the beers he and Carl drink, because sometimes alcohol makes Homer talkative and gives him a sort of superpower that makes him say exactly the worst thing at the most inopportune time.

"Mount Carlmore?"

Lenny's mind repeats again and again that this can't be happening, that those words can't be coming out of Carl's mouth because he doesn't know about Mount Carlmore. Meanwhile Homer keeps talking in the background:

"… a giant head! Marge has never done anything like that for me.

"Lenny?"

Carl has put on his poker face, the same one he wears every time he abandons Lenny, and he doesn't think he can bear it. Not when he's only gotten Carl back that morning.

"Lenny!"

The closing door to the bar cuts Carl's exclamation in the same way the cold cuts Lenny's breath, but despite that he keeps running with a single thought in mind: getting away.

Five hours later the colors of the dawn paint Mount Carlmore, but Lenny can't see it because he is sitting with his back to the neck of the carving. His freezing body stopped shivering a while ago and now he doesn't even have the strength to lift his head and look at the car which has just parked beside his.

The door of the car opens and somebody comes out, gravel crunching under their shoes. Lenny would know those footsteps anywhere and the admiring whistle Carl lets out only confirms his identity.

"So this is Mount Carlmore," Carl says, and Lenny understands the hidden message. _So this is how you feel._

"How?" _How did you find me? How will you react? How do you feel?_

"Google Earth."

"Ah." _So you are going to ignore the difficult questions._

Carl's feet walk away from Lenny's field of view and the car's door closes. Lenny isn't about to lift his head just to watch his other half driving away, but the sound of steps coming closer surprises him into looking up.

Carl is walking towards him with a blanket in his hands and his eyes staring at the ground. He sits by his side without saying a word and stretches an arm over Lenny's shoulders so he can cover them both in blue wool.

The sun rises over the desert lighting everything up with its rays. Lenny knows that Carl will soon start feeling uncomfortable and insist on going back to the city and pretending this has never happened. But that remains in the future. Lenny discovered long ago that the key to being happy with Carl is learning to enjoy the present and stop worrying about what will come.

In that moment, with Mount Carlmore's cold stone behind him and the warmth of Carl surrounding him, not even the light of the sun can compare to the brightness of Lenny's heart.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write crack and it came out as angst. I don't understand it. I hope it's at least a little bit like what you wanted, OP.


End file.
